Firm/Studio Name
Rhea Mehta Design
What determined your passion for design? Tell us about the moment when you decided this is the way to go.
I never really had a deciding moment for design. In fact, it was not a moment at all. It was years of falling deeper in love with the design world.
Since I was very young my parents exposed me to the art and design world through books and workshops, without either of them having a design background themselves. And since a very young age, I knew design was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life!
So for me, there was no huge moment to decide this was the way, it was more about waiting for the moment I could fully submerge myself in it!
What kind of projects were you doing when you first started as a designer?
Initially, I started with designing smaller-scale pieces of lights – 2 to 5 feet of chandeliers, pendants and floor lamps and now we are creating up to 100 feet chandeliers and installations!
What field of design are you most interested in?
Lighting has always intrigued me, the impact that proper lighting has on a space is beyond measurable. And so is the Impact of a beautiful lighting sculpture that adds functionality and aesthetic to space all at once. Lighting has the power to change the way you feel in a particular space and that’s one of the reasons that I love it so much!
What is your favourite book/magazine on design? How about your favourite site?
‘Design the Life You Love’, a book by Ayse Birsel is one of my favourites. It talks about design in a much wider context and addresses the amount of time and effort people spend on building their dream homes and their businesses and how the same energy should be devoted, if not more to designing our lives – Our journey being the biggest design project of our lifetime.
What is your Signature Style?
I call my signature style Bold Minimalism; Minimalism with an edge. But of course, every individual’s design styles evolve, so I can only answer for the moment!
What inspires you to thrive in this industry? Which piece of architecture inspires you the most.
The most rewarding part of the design is that by the time you create, execute and finish something new, your design style has already evolved. And it’s a never-ending process of evolution and creation.
The piece of architecture that inspired me the most is Zaha Hadid’s
Changsha Meixihu International Culture and Art Centre with its most diverse and intriguing forms.
From your point of view, is design an art or a science?
I think the design is a combination of the two and can’t stand tall without either. Science brings structural stability and balance. It’s the invisible backbone to design. And, art adds aesthetics and culture, making it the soul of design.
If you had no limits (money, resources), what would you create?
There are way too many things coming to my mind! I cannot pick one yet!
What advice do you have for young designers or architects reading this interview?
Dream big, Work hard, constantly evolve and make mistakes! Because if you’re not making mistakes, you’re playing it safe which means you’re not learning or growing!
